Hindolveston - Bridge End, Foulsham Road - Change of Use to C2 Use (Ref No FUL/2020/0088)
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Hindolveston - Bridge End, Foulsham Road - Change of use to C2 use (Ref no FUL/2020/0088) FURTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION REQUESTED BY PLANNING OFFICER NCC have responsibility to provide accommodation for vulnerable children in Norfolk. The County Council provide homes in a variety of locations and the proposal will provide an important part of the network of support required in Norfolk to meet best practice, in a cost effective way to secure improved outcomes for children by placing them in such facilities centrally in the County. In e-mail correspondence dated 9 February 2021 and at a meeting between Planning Officers and the applicant on 24 February 2021, further supporting information was requested. Please find below the additional information requested to enable re-consultation to take place (alongside other information already supplied) and the application to then be presented to Member at the forthcoming Planning Committee. Further details of the site search, search criteria and properties considered. The search criteria that need to be met to find a suitable property for a single / dual placement home (to meet the need for a rural location) is extensive. The criteria most notably include: • Location – As previously explained in application details, rural sites are required which are not too accessible in terms of public transport or infrastructure which may encourage or increase the likelihood of external influences or risks to the child or young person(s); • No of bedrooms - Minimum of four bedrooms; • No of bathroom – Minimum of two bathrooms; • Type of property – Bungalow preferred as this offers greater flexibility with layout for care of children, support care staff and office type space; • Off road parking – A area to accommodate four / five cars on site; • State of repair – Good state of repair required to limit the costs for any adaptations; • Local support – Once a property is identified, the client seeks to engage with Parish Councillors and Local Member to ascertain an initial view of suitability and support. What length of time did the search take place over The site search commenced in Spring 2020, following the Council commitment to provide solo / dual placement homes in early 2020. The main site search took place in spring / summer 2020, at a time which coincide with significant activity in the housing market (following the start of the Covid pandemic). This led to a significant Hindolveston – Bridge End, Ashcroft Farm – Change of use from dwelling to children’s home Further Supporting Information February 2021 (v4) increase in market demand, with a demand from buyers moving from more urban areas, especially around larger cities, so the client found that properties were sold almost immediately as the came on the market. As a result of the site search criteria, coupled with this significant demand, it has been very challenging to identify and secure properties suitable for a solo / dual placement home. Need The need for solo / dual placement home is countywide, which includes making provision for children from North Norfolk. A rural location in central Norfolk is considered most suitable as this improves ability to recruit high quality staff able to travel to work with ease and supports the creation of jobs for local people. It also allows the child or young person to be supported to access amenities, entertainment and hobbies as per their care plan. Norfolk Children’s Services currently have some 50 children and young people requiring residential care. Of these approximate 50, around 10 are considered to require solo/dual provisions of this type and many children are placed out of county as there is not suitable provision for them here in Norfolk. Norfolk Children’s Services have, to date, commissioned one in county solo/dual provision and aim to progress to 3 provisions before reviewing whether further should be sought. It is the ambition of Norfolk Children’s services to work on strategy to reduce the overall number of residential placements required and that where these provisions are required, we have provisions available to support children and young people within the county. This provision would support both these strategies, by providing us an in-house, in county provision, which aims to stabilise children and young people to allow them to either be reunited with families, or stepped down into foster placements or other suitable arrangements. Parking and amenity considerations for adjacent residents. The site has a large area to the front of the property which can, and has, been used for parking. The attached plan identifies an area where car parking for the home will generally be concentrated. This is detached from the converted barns to the north. Also attached is the approved site plan and drawing of the south elevation for 2017/1953 that shows the position of windows and boundary walls and fences. This provides a physical and visual separation and will limit any impact of vehicle movements or activities linked to the home. Website link provided below https://idoxpa.north-norfolk.gov.uk/online- applications/files/D9381FD6BFC02BC4A7630D6816110482/pdf/PF_17_1953- Revised_-_Proposed_Site_Plan_and_Car_Port-350802.pdf https://idoxpa.north-norfolk.gov.uk/online- applications/files/D502C0F28A17AE72F9D24E1C83718DF2/pdf/PF_17_1953- Elevations_as_Proposed-336870.pdf Hindolveston – Bridge End, Ashcroft Farm – Change of use from dwelling to children’s home Further Supporting Information February 2021 (v4) As previously stated, it is not proposed to change the boundary treatment associated with the proposed home use Details of expected vehicle movements (numbers of cars per day and times). As a four-bedroom family home in a rural location, any residential use would generate several movements each day associated with normal activities including travelling to and from work, school, shopping and social activities. In relation to the proposed solo / dual placement home use, there would be a similar number of movements (although more concentrated during daytimes). As with C3 family home, there would not be a consistent pattern of movements and visitors, however, on a typical day this may include the staff changeover (2 vehicles in, 2 vehicles out daily) and the school run. On some days, there may be individual vehicle moments to access amenities, or to attend routine medical appointments. Dependent on the individual plan for the child, contact with friends and family may result in a vehicle moment at the property. It is unlikely that there would be more than five vehicles at the property at any given time but we consider there is ample room to allow for more than this, should this ever be required, with space for vehicles to move around others without the need to wait on the road temporarily or ‘queue’ to access the parking required. It will be likely there will be a daily occurrence of a short period of around half an hour at handover where four cars will be parked at the property. Again, we do not envisage any issues with space to allow this to be logistically comfortable. For a four bedroom family home such as this, some 8 – 10 vehicle movements per day would not be uncommon (4 – 5 in and 4 – 5 out per day), and the proposed solo / dual placement home use will result, on average, in a similar level of movements. As previously stated, access to the property is at the very edge of the site from the road and would not result in traffic moving past the neighbouring properties. Due to the layout of the site, the proximity to other properties and the positioning of windows on these buildings, there is not considered any risk of overlooking or creating a disturbance to neighbouring properties through any of the activities taking place at the proposed provision. Ofsted of Homes in Stratton Strawless and Frettenham A query was raised regarding the Ofsted rating of homes in the above locations. In both cases these homes were rated as GOOD in the last inspection. Care home inspections consider safeguarding matters and therefore are not published in the same way as School Ofsted reports due to the sensitive nature of information contained in such report. Therefore, they are not available for public inspection. Hindolveston – Bridge End, Ashcroft Farm – Change of use from dwelling to children’s home Further Supporting Information February 2021 (v4) PF 17 1953 20.12.2017 .